#LIVERPOOLFC ON AUSTNET

LATEST NEWS

2nd September 2003 - 4 Matches have passed, Liverpool's record is Won 1, Drawn 2 and Lost 1. Big spenders Chelsea took 3 points in the last few minutes at Anfield, whilst Aston Villa and Tottenham were able to take points in stalemated circumstances. Critics were soon wiped out as Liverpool once again won at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby 3-1. Owen netting two whilst Kewell got his first ever goal in a competitive match for his Liverpool Career.

9th August 2003 - Liverpool go down at Anfield to Valencia 2-0 in very hot weather.

8th August 2003 - Gerrard Houllier adds another French player to his collection as

5th August 2003 - Liverpool demolished Aberdeen 5-1 at Pittodrie Road. The Reds went down 1 nil early but Danny Murphy Equalised, and then in the second half Heskey continued his fine pre-season form by making it two. The third goal saw Harry Kewell grab his first ever goal in a Reds shirt and Neil Mellor scored a further two in the last 15 minutes to make it 5.

4th August 2003 - Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the pre-season as Galatasaray defeated Liverpool 2-1 in a weird bitter affair which saw Neil Mellor and Steven Gerrard sent off. Emile Heskey's equaliser in the 35th minute was shortlived as Galatasaray regained from a free kick 3 minutes later.

1st August 2003 - Liverpool played a reasonable nil all draw with Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. Harry Kewell made his return after his ankle injury as he played for 73 minutes.

30th July 2003 - Liverpool's midfield suffered an enormous setback as Dietmar Hamann had surgery to fix a shin injury which will take until November to heal. Hamann's abscence will add further weakness to Liverpool's midfield in the match against Chelsea as Steven Gerrard will miss out because of suspension on the last league match of last season.

27th July 2003 - The Far East tour ended with Liverpool demolishing Hong Kong 6 nil. Vladimir Smicer continued his Far East tour form by opening up the scoring in the 14th minute. Thirteen minutes into the second half Heskey made sure the scoresheet looked similar to the previous match as he made it 2-0. In the 75th minute promising young French star Le Tallec scored his first ever goal for Liverpool and Milan Baros immediately made it 4 nil in the 77th minute. If that wasn't enough Baros & Heskey grabbed they're second goals of the match in the last few minutes to make it 6 nil.

25th July 2003 - The first of two matches of the Far East Tour saw Liverpool overcome Thailand 3-1 at the Rajamangala National Stadium. Heskey opened up the scoring in the 31st minute and Smicer regained the lead in the 2nd half by scoring in the 46th minute and 65th minute of the match.

21st July 2003 - Liverpool estimate that Kewell will be out until the 1st of August therefore missing the matches in the far east this week. Liverpool FC Head of Press Ian Cotton said: "Harry had a scan on his left ankle and this has revealed ligament damage." Also with a similar injury is Salif Diao who expects to be back the same time as Kewell. Markus Babbel and Florent Sinama Pongolle have past tests to be able to play in matches in the Far East.

20th July 2003 - Big injury scare for Harry Kewell as he left the 1-1 draw with Crewe with an ankle injury, the ankle injury is looking serious as tests tomorrow will reveal the true extent of the injury.

17th July 2003 - Michael Owen reminded who's who as he scored 2 goals in a 3-1 friendly match victory against FC Koln in Cologne. Harry Kewell marked his debut in a Liverpool shirt whilst Heskey netted the opener in the 6th minute.

14th July 2003 - Liverpool fans appalled as Kelvin MacKenzie plans to launch football magazine (Taken from Red and White Kop website)

Davey and RAWK write:

In what can only be regarded as some kind of sick joke by families of the 96, Hillsborough survivors and Liverpool fans everywhere, Kelvin MacKenzie is currently in discussions about launching a monthly football magazine to coincide with the start of the 2003-04 season.

For those of you not familiar with the murky world of the media, Kelvin MacKenzie - the editor responsible for writing and publishing the "The Truth" stories in The S*n - now heads up The Wireless Group, which is responsible for Talksport radio. Talksport director, Bill Ridley, has confirmed that MacKenize would be fully involved in running the proposed magazine. As one Red said today "I'd rather go blind than read anything he's had a hand in".

Background: On the Tuesday following the Hillsborough disaster, MacKenzie used the front page headline, THE TRUTH, in huge letters. Under that were three smaller headlines: 'Some fans picked pockets of victims'; 'Some fans urinated on the brave cops'; 'Some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life'. The complete work of fiction that accompanied these headlines claimed that 'drunken Liverpool fans viciously attacked rescue workers as they tried to revive victims' and 'police officers, firemen and ambulance crew were punched, kicked and urinated upon'. The "newspaper" went on to quote an unnamed policeman, claiming that a dead girl had been abused and that Liverpool fans 'were openly urinating on us and the bodies of the dead'.

In their history of The S*n, Peter Chippendale and Chris Horrie wrote:

'As MacKenzie's layout was seen by more and more people, a collective shudder ran through the office [but] MacKenzie's dominance was so total there was nobody left in the organisation who could rein him in except Murdoch. [Everyone] seemed paralysed, "looking like rabbits in the headlights", as one hack described them. The error staring them in the face was too glaring. It obviously wasn't a silly mistake; nor was it a simple oversight. Nobody really had any comment on it - they just took one look and went away shaking their heads in wonder at the enormity of it. It was a "classic smear".'

Following The S*n's report, that newspaper was boycotted by the people of Liverpool, a boycott which exists to this day, has cost an estimated £125 million and still bites as an article in the advertising industry magazine Mediaweek on the 21st March this year testified "The S*n is still struggling with the legacy of Hillsborough, 14 years after the most disastrous publishing decision in the newspaper’s history, the National Readership Survey’s figures suggest."

It can only be hoped that any such magazine launched by MacKenzie attracts the low readership it deserves, and receives no cooperation from the players and staff of Liverpool Football Club.

13th July 2003 - Houllier announces there will be no more new signings this English summer.

"Harry Kewell is our last signing," reveals Houllier, "but not the least. It's gone down very well amongst the players. They're thrilled we've signed Harry. It's a boost to everybody at the club."

"We're very happy with the players we have brought in. We're looking forward to the first game and everybody will be involved."

12th July 2003 - We Signed Harry Kewell! Also unveiled was the Irishman Steve Finnan from Fulham. The French kids Le Tallec and Pongolle from French relegated club Le Harve.

From Left to Right: Pongolle, Finnan, Houllier, Kewell, Le Tallec

Return to Main Menu

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws